What is the difference between an in canvas render and a local render? Also, is infinite render better than final render?

[piotradamorchowski]

Can I get a simple answer? 

[Drewpan · Accepted solution]

Hi,

In-canvas render is basically a quick ray trace render to give you an idea about what the final render may look like

photorealistically. It is not meant to be a final render, just a "here is what it might look like" to check if you are on

the right track.

Local render is a full render that does many passes of the file and produces a full photorealistic render of much

higher quality than in-canvas. It is the same as a cloud render but is done on your machine instead of the cloud.

You pay tokens for a cloud render (maybe) and you get local render for free but use your processor that may take

a lot more time and resources.

How good a render is will depend on how many "passes" you do on the file. The more passes then the better quality

of the photorealism. If Infinite render is better than final render it is more subjective. While some files may benefit

from infinite render it depends on the file and how much processing you want to actually do in terms of time. You

might do an infinite render for hours and not notice an appreciable difference. It is subjective. Think of it a bit like

doing calculus - as you approach the limit the change often becomes much smaller. (ok, or bigger if it is asymtotic😎)

Render can be found in the documentation here. There are a few embedded tutorials.

https://help.autodesk.com/view/fusion360/ENU/?guid=GUID-49FE6FF1-E14E-4B5E-AD69-BEDBD6C19B61

Cheers

Andrew

[piotradamorchowski]

"Local render is a full render that does many passes of the file and produces a full photorealistic render of much

higher quality than in-canvas."

It produces a higher quality render how exactly? In-canvas render can have an infinite amount of passes while a local render has a set amount of passes. This makes no sense whatsoever. 

"If Infinite render is better than final render it is more subjective."

I mean... The algorithm either produces a higher-quality image or it does not. Programming is not some voodoo magic.

Thanks for the answer.

[Drewpan · Accepted solution]

Hi,

In-canvas render is a basic low pass render to give you an idea of what a full rendered photorealistic file will look

like. It is not expected to be high quality. It is also NOT unlimited. Local render is a full render done on your local

machine. It IS supposed to be photorealistic. Local and cloud render do many more passes over the file than an

in-canvas render which is why they look more photorealistic. The number of passes is set by the user.

Rendering depends on how many calculation passes the algorithm does over the file. The more passes, the more

calculations are made about reflections, shadows and edges. There will come some point in the rendering process

when each pass will make such a small change that it is not really noticeable. There will be a difference but often it

is a subjective opinion of if the photorealism is "better" or "more enhanced". One person may say yes, another no.

If you spend a few hours rendering a complex image you will get a photorealistic result. If you set it to render a few

more hours to infinite it a. will not actually be infinite, and b. not everyone might agree it looks "more photorealistic".

It isn't voodoo magic, the algorithm just has to stop at some point. At some point the actual changes in the file will

become negligible. If I show you two colour blocks from the Pantone colour chart side by side then you might be able

to pick them apart but if I show you one and say what colour is that what you say might be different to what I say.

That is a subjective opinion.

Cheers

Andrew

[piotradamorchowski]

"If you set it to render a few more hours to infinite it will not actually be infinite(...)It isn't voodoo magic, the algorithm just has to stop at some point."

Makes sense, thanks. However, if that's the case, the option shouldn't be called "infinite". 

[TrippyLighting]

The TL:DR version:

The only difference between the local render and the in-canvas render is that the in-canvas render blocks you from working with Fusion. When you start a local render, you can continue working with Fusion.

However, keep in mind that rendering utilizes all CPU cores, and performance might be limited. For example, don't start a complex toolpath simulation while rendering locally 😉

The infinite render will create "better" images, but the difference might not be perceivable.

Most modern PBR render are raytracers that progressively sample the scene and refine the image. Sometimes that helps, sometimes that doesn't. It depends on the materials used in the scene/model.

Models with lots of refractive surfaces and subsurface scattering (translucency) can benefit from longer render times beyond the  "final" setting.

A bit more detail:

All three render modes, in-canvas, local, and cloud render, use the same render engine under the hood. Lagoa was initially an independent company with a cloud render engine but was sold to Autodesk in 2014.

Only in very specific circumstances do the results between the three sometimes differ.

@Drewpan Conceptually, a PBR render engine can run infinitely; the Algorithm doesn't have to stop at some time. If you understand how a raytracer works then that becomes apparent.